Accents
by ahsokanerd
Summary: Ahsoka Tano, a fun-loving Jedi Youngling, is the only Togruta without an accent in the Jedi Order. Her accent and slow growth speed were the only things other younglings made fun of, and so she decided to take care of one of them. But when Shaak Ti introduces her to the young members of Delta Squad, she has the rare chance to learn what true acceptance is like. [One-shot.]


**Accents**

_Not long after the First Battle of Geonosis_

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><p>Ahsoka's bright blue eyes had not yet gone dull. When she looked about the starship, all could see her curiosity with the universe as she widened her eyes and flashed a bright smile at everyone she saw.<p>

Some returned her smiles. Others, to her dismay and confusion, did not. Yet this did not stop her from being the fun-loving person she was. For now, Ahsoka was still a twelve-year-old child. "Let her live a life for a little while longer," Shaak Ti said, gently correcting a clone trooper when he ordered the girl to stop heading towards a group of cadets. "Force knows it won't last."

"But sir," the clone protested, "she'll disrupt their training!"

Ahsoka fidgeted with her traditional green Togrutan dress as she observed the exchange. She was uncomfortable and felt responsible for the argument the two adults were having. And when she saw Master Ti purse her lips, the only sign of frustration the elder Togruta ever showed, she had the urge to divert her eyes and stare down at her bare feet.

Shaak Ti clasped her hands together. "Really now? Well, I'll inform the cadets that it's time to learn what being a Jedi Youngling is like." Turning to the small form nearby, she said, "Come, child. Let me introduce you to some of the Republic's finest cadets."

When Shaak Ti held out her hand, Ahsoka hesitated and looked up at the woman. She took the offered hand after the Jedi Master gave one of her rare smiles.

"Oh, one more thing, trooper: it's ma'am."

One could hardly guess due to her lengthy dress, but Master Ti was a fast walker. Ahsoka had to run to keep up with her on her short feet. _I hope I'll get bigger soon,_ she thought. All the other youngling girls in her clan teased her about it. "Even Ashla looks older than her," they would sometimes whisper when they thought she wasn't listening. And to her face they would say, "You're going to be an old lady before you'll be as tall as Master Ti."

Worst of all, they made fun of her accent. Yes, all the Togruta who were part of the Jedi Order had them, but Ahsoka's was particularly thick. "It's not my fault!" she protested one day in class. "I'm from the equator. Everyone knows the Togruta there have accents." But they only laughed some more at her words.

She sniffled a little as she thought about it. She still had fun, of course. Plenty of the other younglings had been willing to overlook it, though sometimes they had to ask her to repeat her words. She didn't mind too much after she learned to ignore the jokes and insults that she was the brunt of. The rest of her life was quite enjoyable.

But one day, she decided that she would be the first Togruta in the Jedi Order in the history of the universe—it sounded special when it was said that way—to get rid of her accent. Hopefully it would be gone before she became a padawan.

"Ahsoka?"

She shook herself out of her thoughts. "Hmm?"

"This is Delta Squad," Shaak Ti said, gesturing to the clone cadets in front of them who were sitting on a pile of crates. Physically, they all looked about twelve years old, but both Jedi knew that they were far younger. "Delta Squad, this is Jedi Youngling Ahsoka Tano, the captain of Clawmouse Clan."

Ahsoka's lekku darkened with embarrassment. The only reason she was the clan's captain, she believed, was because the elder Jedi Masters pitied her. Master Yoda _said_ she was talented pupil, but he probably didn't believe that. He only wanted her to feel better.

Looking at each of the clones, she smiled brightly. "Hello!" She blushed, making her lekku turn an even darker shade of blue, when she realized that she'd said it with her accent. She quickly corrected herself, adding a small bow. "I mean, hello."

One of the clones stood respectfully, and the others soon followed suit. "Greetings, Master Jedi," he said, bowing respectfully towards Shaak Ti. Ahsoka had to put a hand to her mouth to stifle a gasp. She knew all of the clones slight accents, but his—his was far stronger. It was as if he was a Mandalorian himself. "And it's great to meet you, Ahsoka. I'm Boss. This Scorch, Sev, and RC-1140." Each of the clones had nodded and smiled when Boss said their name. "We don't have a nickname for 40 just yet," Scorch said, "but I'm sure we'll think of something. Problem is, he can't take a joke. He never thinks he's wrong."

40 scowled. "That's not true, RC-1262."

"Ha!" Scorch chuckled. "See what I mean?"

"Ugh, you're impossible." 40 did a facepalm. "When will you ever grow up…?"

Ahsoka bit her lip.

"Now and never, I guess," Boss said. "_Hibirar ganar nuh'la._" He turned to Shaak Ti. "I apologize. You were saying?"

"There's no need to worry," Shaak Ti said. "I thought it would be best if you and your squad spent the day with Ahsoka. On Kamino you learn far to little about the everyday life of younglings in the Jedi Temple, and younglings learn even less about the training of clones. Perhaps you could learn from each other."

"Excellent idea, General. We'll learn what we can."

After Shaak Ti had dismissed herself and gone up to the bridge, the children began discussing plans. None of them were exactly sure what to do. Since it had been a surprise to all of them that they'd be spending time together, they hadn't thought of anything before hand. 40 suggested "good conversation." Of course, all of them thought that was a terrible idea. For a moment they had a good plan when Scorch suggested stand-up comedy, but that many of the jokes he made fell flat. And they soon learned that the rest of them weren't good comedians.

"I've got a great idea," Sev said, a grin slowly appearing on his face.

Boss nodded. "Let's hear it."

"It's something I've wanted to do for a long time, but I just haven't had an opportunity." His grin was ridiculously huge by this point. "Strip poker."

"Oh, don't be such an _di'kut_, just because she's a girl," Boss said, facepalming. "You can be such a pervert. Show some respect."

"Yeah, no thanks," Ahsoka said, her lekku heating up with embarrassment. "I don't really want anyone to see me, and I really don't want to see anyone else, thank you very much."

"I'm sorry he said that." Boss rubbed his eyes in frustration. "He went to far."

"Well, I forgive you guys. I sensed he only meant it to be funny." Then she added, "How 'bout we fight some droids? There's a simulator here, right?"

The clones looked at each other, then looked back at Ahsoka. "Actually, that's a great idea," 40 said. "I've never trained beside a Jedi before."

"None of us have," Boss said. He gestured to his three squad mates. "Go and see what you can do to get the room ready."

"What will you be doing?" Sev asked.

"Giving some advice to Ahsoka."

"Alright, see you soon, brother."

When the three clones had gone, Ahsoka and Boss began to walk to the simulation room's armory. "You know, I've been in a simulation room and fought droids before. I mean, I can always use more advice, but I'm not sure what you could teach me."

"I know." Boss stopped walking and sighed. "Look, I'm sorry about the way Sev treated you. He was immature, out of line, and just being so _di'kutla_-"

"It's alright, he-"

"No, it isn't alright. Too many of my brothers act rudely towards women, looking down at them just because they're a different gender. There's never an excuse for men to behave like Sev. Period."

Ahsoka looked away. "Thank you. I guess."

"Please, don't thank me for apologizing on behalf of my gender," he said. As they started to walk again, he said, "You know, I actually do have some advice."

"Oh?" She glanced over at him.

He nodded. "I noticed your accent earlier."

She gulped. "Yeah…"

"You know, I was trained by the late Mandalorian Jango Fett."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really. That's why I have an accent." Boss pointed at himself. "And I don't hide it. Do you know why?"

Ahsoka shook her head. "No."

"Because I'm proud of my heritage. I sound odd to some, I know. I'm made fun of. But it's okay."

"I… I can't. I don't _want_ it, though," Ahsoka said. She hurriedly brushed a tear from her eyes. "I'm the first Togruta in the Jedi Order in the history of the universe that can speak without an accent."

"Our accents are nothing to be ashamed of."

"I'm not ashamed of it. I just don't want to use it."

"Somehow I don't believe that."

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><p><strong>AhsokaNerd's Corner<strong>

It's quite interesting that Ahsoka is the only Togruta that doesn't have an accent. I wondered why, and came up with this story. I'm sure it doesn't exactly fit in canon, but it works well. She's always struggled with acceptance in _The Clone Wars_ show. (And what makes it even sadder is that she's frequently rejected.) It would make sense for her to learn how to speak without an accent.

Oh, and one more thing: us male _Star Wars_ fans need to stop being such jerks to women. (Seriously, I'm embarrassed to see how poorly many of us behave towards online.) And what the heck, what's up with the racist responses to _The Force Awakens _teaser trailer!? I guess I'll have to address that in my next one-shot.

"_Hibirar ganar nuh'la_" could be translated as: "Learn to have [some] fun."

"_Di'kutla_" could be translated as: "Idiotic." Without the _la_, it's just "idiot."

Thanks for reading, and please don't forget to leave a review!

- AhsokaNerd


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